Addressing Anxiety in Young Learners: A Teacher's Guide to Recognizing Needs and Resolving Behaviors Tapa blanda -

Sarah Taylor Vanover has been working in the field of early childhood education for over twenty-three years. She first began as an assistant teacher in an infant classroom, and since then she has served as a lead teacher, a program administrator, a trainer, a classroom teaching coach, and a college professor. Dr. Vanover is currently the Director for the Division of Child Care in Kentucky where she is responsible for early education policy development, child care subsidy, the Kentucky child care quality rating system, and professional development for early childhood educators.

Dr. Vanover completed her doctoral research on what families look for when selecting child care for their children. She is an active trainer in Kentucky and surrounding states, and she frequently speaks at conferences on topics like quality childcare indicators, early childhood special education, and the importance of the child care system. Vanover lives in Lexington, KY with her husband, Rob, and her two sons, Jack and James.

Kristen Mennona is the founder of Nurture Family Counseling, LLC in Denver, Colorado. Her practice specializes in the treatment of pediatric eating disorders, OCD and anxiety within the context of the family. Kristen is a licensed professional counselor, a board-certified dance/movement therapist, a certified eating disorder specialist (CEDS), a registered yoga instructor (RYT 200) and a BTTI trained clinician for pediatric OCD. Kristen combines best clinical practices with ancient, embodied experiences for her clients. She believes in the inherent wisdom of the body to bring forth that which needs healing.

Kristen presents nationally on topic of body image acceptance and the integration of expressive arts. She enjoys teaching clinicians how to incorporate non-verbal methods to help clients tolerate body sensations (like anxiety). She hosts an Instagram account called, oeTHE_BODY_AS  to inspire more people to work on body image acceptance and to pass that acceptance on to the next generation.